MakeMyTrip Acquires European Hotel Booking Site

Skift Take

There are exceptions, but nearly all of the booking sites want to increase their hotel mix because the margins are higher than for airline tickets. MakeMyTrip’s acquisition of EasyToBook can be seen in this context.

India online travel agency MakeMyTrip upped its campaign to get more hotels into its revenue mix by acquiring the equity in Amsterdam-based EasyToBook that it didn’t already own for $5 million.

In addition to gaining further access to EasyToBook’s technology, the acquisition gives MakeMyTrip an enhanced ability to serve Indian travelers seeking room reservations in Europe, a key regional destination.

MakeMyTrip has been trying to give more weight to hotels and vacation packages, which are higher-margin businesses than selling airline tickets.

In 2013, hotels and vacation packages accounted for 31% of MakeMyTrip’s revenue compared with 21% a year earlier.